Erdogan Hosts Putin

Local Editor

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday was to hold talks in Ankara with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to strengthen ties which have survived sharp differences over the Syria and Ukraine crises.

Erdogan is to host Putin for the one-day state visit at his controversial new presidential palace outside Ankara. The Russian leader will be only the second world dignitary to visit the grandiose complex, just days after the trip of Pope Francis on Friday.

The talks are expected to focus on energy cooperation - with Ankara seeking not only a reduction in gas prices from Russia but also greater import volumes ahead of the winter - as well key diplomatic issues.

The pair is also expected to discuss how to realize their aim of tripling bilateral trade to a target of $100 billion in the next years from $32.7 billion in 2013, a goal some analysts see as wildly over-ambitious.

Accompanying Putin are no less than 10 Russian ministers who will meet their Turkish counterparts in a session of the High Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council which was established to oversee bilateral ties.

It will be the first time the pair have met face-to-face since Erdogan moved from the post of prime minister to president in August, the same job change that Putin himself made in 2012.

Russia and Turkey appear so far to have successfully shielded their strong relations from potentially damaging disputes over the crises in Syria and Ukraine.
Ankara - a strong supporter of the territorial integrity of states due to its own battle with Kurdish separatists - opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine this year.

In a decision clearly timed to coincide with Putin's visit, Turkey's environment ministry Monday approved the building of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant after an environmental impact report.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team